Mr. Brendan Gleeson:

I thank the Chairman for giving me the opportunity to address the committee. I am pleased to assist the committee in its examination of the Department's appropriation account for 2021. My colleagues and I look forward to discussing the expenditure and activities of the Department in 2021 with the committee.

The Department's gross estimate for 2021 was €1.8 billion. This included a carryover of capital savings of €31.6 million from 2020. In all, this represented an overall increase of €81 million over the corresponding Estimates figure for 2020. The gross outturn in 2021 was €1.69 billion. During 2021, the Department availed of a technical Supplementary Estimate, which facilitated the transfer of funds within the Vote to deal with emerging priorities. These included a Brexit-related temporary tie-up scheme for the fisheries sector and to pay part of our commitment to the World Food Programme early.

The Department also receives appropriations-in-aid, which were significant in the overall 2021 financial outcome. These principally comprise EU receipts in respect of rural development, seafood development and animal disease programmes. In 2021, these receipts amounted to €386 million.

Turning back to expenditure, 2021 was a challenging year for the Department, with the ongoing impacts of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic impacting on outturn. The Department's Vote is divided into four programmes, each representing a key policy priority. Programme A relates to the food safety, animal health and welfare and plant health programmes that underpin our agrifood sector. These include disease eradication programmes, such as those relating to TB, tests for residues in food products, on farm controls and plant protection. Programme expenditure under this heading, excluding staff and administration costs, amounted to €122 million in 2021. Staff costs constitute approximately 40% of the expenditure on this programme, which accounts for more than half of the Department's total 2021 payroll. This reflects the skills and expertise of our staff, who are the foundation of the food safety regime on which our agrifood sector is dependent.

Programme B covers our national funded and EU co-funded farm support schemes. The Vote does not include the basic payments scheme and associated schemes, which is entirely EU funded. These schemes are designed to encourage sustainable agricultural practices, and most of them, apart from the forestry programme, receive co-funding from the EU under the rural development programme, RDP. The final allocation for these schemes in 2021, following the Supplementary Estimate, came to €847 million. The eventual outturn for this programme was €823 million. The 2021 allocation for the results-based environmental agri pilot, REAP, for example, was €20 million, but payments totalling €10.8 million issued by year-end. A higher than expected number of participants withdrew or were rejected due to non-submission of field score claims. Part of reduced spend can be attributed to the COVID-19 restrictions, which had an impact on projects that would have been funded by targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, and reduced spending on forestry, which we can discuss in greater detail later on.

As part of the EU recovery instrument, EURI, the Department received €189 million in funding. That is 100% funded by the EU and is programmed through the rural development programme in 2021 and 2022, with commitments and expenditure possible up to the end of 2025. EURI funding focuses on addressing the biodiversity, climate and environment challenges in the context of economic recovery from Covid-19 through green and digital investments on farm and in rural communities, including through the LEADER programme. There was an EURI allocation of €56 million in the vote for 2021. However, this required an amendment to RDP, and due to the time it took to get approval for this amendment, there was a very limited window to spend these funds in 2021.

Programme C, policy and strategy, includes expenditure on research and development, grants to State agencies, including those funded by the horse and greyhound fund, donations to the World Food Programme and funding to prime loan schemes to assist farmers and food businesses. In 2021, the Department continued to use funding under its competitive research programmes to enable Irish researchers to participate in collaborative international partnerships. In 2021, Bord Bia received an additional €4.2 million, for example, to assist with the incorporation of Brexit and Covid-19 related activities into their suite of existing programmes, market diversification and business assists for Irish food and drink businesses. Bord Bia also supported quality assured Irish produce through promotion campaigns here in the home market and in some European Union countries.

The Supplementary Estimate was availed of to transfer savings that emerged in various parts of the Vote to respond to a request from the World Food Programme for early payment of our 2022 commitment under the strategic partnership agreement 2022 to 2024. This resulted in a payment of €25 million to the World Food Programme in 2021. Overall, the programme C outturn of €402.8 million was €25.7 million less than the Vote allocation after Supplementary Estimate.

Programme D relates to the seafood sector. Total expenditure under the programme in 2021 amounted to €164 million. Savings in the capital development budget arose due to delays to on ongoing projects and to delays to the start of new projects, primarily due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The programme also includes spending under the seafood development programme and grants to the Marine Institute, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, and the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA. In 2021, BIM received additional funding of €11 million in the Supplementary Estimate. This funded a Brexit temporary tie-up scheme from the Brexit adjustment reserve.

The past couple of years have presented unprecedented challenges in how the Department operates. Staff in the Department have risen to these challenges and I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their continued commitment and professionalism.

I thank the Chairman and the members for their attention and I welcome any questions.